Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon on Wednesday filed a notice of appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit , and told reporters that he intends to appeal a federal court ruling granting summary judgment to a class action lawsuit against Missouri that requires the state to provide inmates with transportation to [...]

The United Nations has opened an investigation into a suspected child prostitution ring in the Democratic Republic of Congo facilitated by UN peacekeepers and Congo soldiers, the UN Mission in DR Congo (MONUC) said Thursday. There have been claims that UN peacekeepers have aided the alleged prostitution ring by luring young girls to work as [...]

Peruvian prosecutors have filed informal charges against Ollanta Humala , the opposition leader who narrowly lost the recent presidential election to Alan Garcia, for murder, torture and kidnapping stemming from his position as an army captain in Peru's San Martin province during the 1990s. A judge must decide whether to formally indict Humala on the [...]

British authorities investigating a foiled terror plot to bomb airplanes crossing the Atlantic Ocean last week released a suspect without charge on Thursday. The suspect was arrested Tuesday. London's Metropolitan Police Service (Met) did not explain details of the suspect's release. Authorities also released another suspect last Friday, just one day after making the initial [...]

A US Marine has been charged with three counts of assault and one count of making a false statement in connection with an incident occurring on April 10 near the village of Hamdania in Iraq, according to a Marine spokesman speaking Wednesday. Lt. Nathan Phan allegedly beat and choked three Iraqi civilians, putting his unloaded [...]

Indonesian authorities on Thursday shortened prison sentences for 10 people convicted in connection with the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed over 200 people. Nine prisoners with sentences between five and 16 years had their sentences cut by four months for good behavior. A tenth had his sentence shortened by 3 months, allowing him to [...]

Australian Prime Minister John Howard agreed Wednesday to hold a conscience vote on a stem cell research bill allowing therapeutic cloning if a private bill is offered to parliament. A conscience vote is a free parliamentary vote in which members are not bound by party policy. In 2002, following the results of an initial conscience [...]

Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal on Wednesday rejected a number of complaints concerning congressional races in the July 2 Mexican general election that paralleled the presidential poll currently subject to a court-ordered partial recount . Under the newly-approved seat distribution, 52 of the 128 seats in the Senate go to the National Action Party (PAN) of [...]

A federal jury in Raleigh, North Carolina reached a partial verdict Wednesday in the trial of David Passaro , a CIA contractor accused of abusing a detainee in Afghanistan , but US District Judge Terrence Boyle sealed the decision and ordered the jury to continue deliberations on other charges Thursday. The jury had sent a [...]

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Wednesday praised new British anti-terrorism laws that helped thwart a terror plot to explode jetliners traveling over the Atlantic Ocean, saying that the provision that allows British authorities to detain terror suspects for up to 28-days without charge is a useful tool. The UK detention policy differs sharply from [...]